| Sutta Name | Nikaya | Vagga | Academic | PTS | PSA Plae | Keywords | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vammika | Majjhima | Muulapa.n.naasa, Opamma Vagga | MN.023 | M.i.142ff. | 18/324 | progress, path | A deity appeared before Kumarakassapa and propounded the riddle “There is an anthill burning day and night. The Brahmins says ‘take your tool Sumedha (sage) and dig’. As the brahmin dug, he came across successively: a bar, a frog, a forked passage, a strainer, a tortoise, a cleaver, a joint of meat -- all of which he was told to cast out and dig on. He then came across a cobra, which he was asked not to harm, but to worship.’ At the suggestion of deity, Kassapa related the riddle to the Buddha, who solved the riddle. The anthill is the body, the brahmin the arahant, the tool wisdom, digging perseverence, the bar ignorance, the forked passage doubting, the strainer the five hindrances, the tortoise the five upadanakkhandas, the cleaver the five-fold sense-pleasures, the joint of meat passion’s delights, and the cobra the arahant monk. |
Last modified on: Sunday, 9 January 2000.